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V\Alh"aw\  Co^m^f 


HAMPTON,  VA.  : 

Nor  vial  School  Steam  Press. 
1881. 


THE  CONTINENT  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


AFRICA  AND  ITS  WONDERFUL  DEVELOPMENT— EXPLORATION 
GOLD  MINING,  TRADE,  MISSIONS  AND  ELEVATION. 


The  tide  of  modern  civilization  and  religious  development 
is  sweeping  round  the  globe.  With  the  rapid  advance  of  India* 
the  unparalleled  strides  of  Japan,  and  the  steady  progress  of  China  to 
the  new  era,  Africa  is  about  to  reveal  its  long-kept  secrets  and  its  pos- 
sibilities of  contributing  to  the  elevation  of  its  inhabitants  and  the 
welfare  of  the  world.  Commerce,  capital,  science,  philanthropy  and 
religion  have  joined  hands  to  penetrate  the  mysterious  land  and  cast 
light  on  its  gloomiest  portions.  Africa  is  very  nearly  everywhere  re- 
garded as  the  continent  of  the  future. 

Governmental. — France  seems  about  to  absorb  Tunis  and  Trip- 
oli, and  to  unite  Algeria  to  her  Senegal  possessions.  The  Chambers, 
have  voted  eight  millions  of  francs  ($1,600,000)  for  two  railroads  : (1) 
from  Algiers  to  Timbuctoo,  across  the  Sahara,  and  (2)  from  Saint  Louis,. 
Senegal,  to  Bamakaand  Sego.  Two  millions  of  francs  ($400,000)  have 
also  been  appropriated  for  the  construction  of  a telegraph  line  fromi 
Dakar  to  Saint  Vincent,  to  place  Senegal  in  telegraphic  connectioa 
with  Europe.  A loan  is  proposed  of  forty-five  millions  of  francs  ($9, 
000,000)  for  the  formation  of  three  hundred  villages  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  two  hundred  thousand  colonists  into  Algeria.  This  expand- 
ing colony  is  just  fifty  years  old.  In  1830  the  total  exports  and  im- 
ports did  not  amount  to  two  million  francs,  ($400,000.)  They  have- 
now  reached  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  million  francs,  ($63,100,000.) 

M.  Soleillet  and  M.  Doponchel  give  the  result  of  their  long  and 
thorough  reconnoissance  as  highly  favorable  to  the  project  of  cross- 
ing the  Sahara  by  steam,  and  they  describe  the  desert  as  far  more  fer- 
tile than  is  commonly  believed.  The  latter  says  : “ What  is  being  so 
successfully  accomplished  by  England  in  India,  by  the  United  States 
in  North  America,  and  by  Russia  in  Central  Asia,  that  should  we  try 
to  do  in  emulation  of  their  example — seek  a continent  whereon  to 
extend  our  beneficent  influence,  and  find,  by  the  employment  of  our 


2 


Governmental. 


idle  capital,  at  once  a new  market  for  the  products  of  our  industries 
and  manufactures,  and  a vast  centre  of  agricultural  production,  able 
to  supply  us,  at  small  cost,  with  the  raw  materials  not  indigenous  to 
our  soil,  which  we  now  only  obtain  with  difficulty  from  foreign  sources.” 

The  expedition  under  Gallieni  is  stated  to  have  reached  Saint 
Louis  from  Timbuctoo,  having  completed  a survey  for  a railroad  be- 
tween those  points  which  is  pronounced  to  be  entirely  feasible.  He 
met  with  a friendly  reception,  and  formed  treaties  with  numerous 
tribes,  whereby  France  is  granted  a right  of  way,  and  may  establish 
ambassadorial  or  military  representatives  at  the  proposed  principal 
stations.  M.  Matheis  has  been  commissioned  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment to  explore  the  country  from  the  bend  of  the  Niger  to  Lake 
Tchad.  M.  L.  Vassian,  an  attache  of  the  French  Department  for  For- 
eign Affairs,  is  to  reside  for  a time  at  Khartoum,  to  study  the  nature  of 
the  commercial  relations  to  be  formed  with  Soudan. 

At  a conference  at  Paris  in  relation  to  the  territories  between  Sier- 
ra Leone  and  the  Gambia,  it  is  understood  that  the  decision  reached 
was  that  the  French  are  to  retain  the  Mellacouri  and  the  English  the 
Searcies.  The  newly  appointed  Governor  of  Sierra  Leone,  Arthur  Eli- 
bank  Havelock,  Esq.,  was  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  British 
Government  at  the  conference. 

Portugal  is  actively  caring  for  her  extensive  African  domain. 
The  Governor-General  of  Angola  has  been  directed  to  organize  a sys- 
tem of  colonization  in  that  province,  by  selecting  a region  best  adapt- 
ed for  its  salubrity,  fertility  of  soil,  abundance  of  water  and  facili- 
ty of  communication,  and  to  prepare  accommodations  for  one  hund- 
red colonists  and  their  families,  an  emigration  having  begun  from 
Madeira.  Lorenzo  Marquez,  the  port  of  Delagoa  Bay,  has  been  ceded 
to  Great  Britain.  It  is  the  best  harbor  on  the  south-eastern  coast, 
while  its  geographical  relation  to  Natal,  Zululand  and  the 
Transvaal  makes  its  possession  of  importance  to  England. 
The  latter  guarantees  to  Portugal  the  exclusive  right  to  the 
territory  between  the  Ambriz  and  Congo  rivers.  The  concession  made 
by  the  Portuguese  Government  to  the  Andrada  Land  Company,  ex- 
tending from  the  Shire  to  the  Kafrio,  at  Nyampanga  Island,  about 
seven  hundred  miles,  is  in  course  of  examination  by  a party  of  French 
mining  engineers.  The  Commercial  Association  of  Lisbon  is  raising 
funds  by  subscription  to  be  offered  to  the  Government  to  co-operate 
with  it  in  the  foundation  of  civilizing  stations  in  the  Portuguese  Afri- 
can colonies. 

Spain  is  meditating  a protectorate  of  Morocco.  Messers  Bolliglia, 
Mamoli  and  Pastori,  of  the  “ Italian  Society  for  Promoting  Commer- 


The  Slave  Trade. 


3 


■cial  Exploration  in  Africa,”  have  left  Tripoli  to  examine  the  elevated 
plain  of  Barka  and  to  found  trading  posts  at  Bengasi,  Derna  and  Te- 
breck,  and  afterwards  others  on  the  oasis  bordering  the  road  to  Uadai 
and  Bornu.  The  Italian  Government  has  contributed  generously  to 
outfit  the  expedition.  The  same  Society  has  dispatched  M.  De- 
meitri  and  M.  Michieli  from  Khartoum  for  the  Red  Sea,  with  a cara- 
van of  seven  hundred  camels  laden  with  various  kinds  of  merchandise 
for  trade.  The  Egyptian  Government  has  sent  the  learned  Rohlfs  to 
the  King  of  Abyssinia  to  arrange  mutual  relations  on  a friendly  basis. 
The  Sultan  of  Zanzibar  has  engaged  the  intrepid  Thomson  to  con- 
duct a geographical  investigation  of  the  Rovouma. 

The  Slave  Trade. — It  is  estimated  that  fifty  thousand  natives 
are  annually  conveyed  to  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian  ports  of  the  Red 
Sea,  where  they  are  disposed  of  to  dealers.  The  Sultan  of  Zanzibar 
has  dispatched  an  armed  force  of  five  hundred  men,  commanded  by 
an  officer  detailed  from  the  British  Army,  in  the  direction  of  Lake 
Tanganyika,  and  the  British  Government  is  to  establish  consuls  at 
Suakin  and  Khartoum,  with  authority  to  travel  in  Egypt  and  on  the  Red 
Sea,  “ to  heal  the  open  sore  of  the  world.”  The  French  Government  is 
to  make  earnest  efforts  and  to  co-operate  with  England  in  all  meas- 
ures having  in  view  the  same  humane  object.  The  Khedivo  has  ap- 
pointed Comte  Della  Salla  to  the  special  office  of  repressing  the 
slave  traffic  in  lower  Egypt.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  at  the  Berlin 
Congress  in  1878,  which  afforded  an  excellent  opportunity  for  con- 
certing a treaty  on  slavery  between  the  Powers  of  Europe,  this  good 
result  was  rendered  impossible  by  the  action  of  the  English  represent- 
atives. 

Explorations. — In  the  exploration  of  Africa  the  Germans  keep 
the  lead,  of  which  almost  nothing  is  known  until  they  appear  after 
an  absence  of  a few  years,  with  a fund  of  knowledge  that  is  astonish- 
ing. Witness,  for  instance,  the  apparition  of  Lenz  from  a journey 
from  Morocco  to  Timbuctoo,  and  thence  to  Medina  and  St.  Louis. 
This  famous  traveler  reports  passing  through  towns  of  from  ten  to 
thirty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  of  having  made  discoveries  which 
explode  the  theory  of  converting  the  Sahara  into  an  ocean.  He  states 
that  the  most  depressed  portion  of  El  Juff,  the  body  of  the  desert,  is. 
some  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  that  there 
exist  in  several  oases  points  which  promise  to  be  of  great  utility  for 
the  proposed  Sahara  railway. 

Dr.  Pogge  is  penetrating  the  country  inland  from  St.  Paul  de  Lo- 
ando,  the  German  Government  having  asked  for  him  the  protection 
of  the  Portuguese  Government  in  its  African  jurisdiction.  Dr.  Holub, 


4 


The  Congo. 

who  has  made  interesting  researches  on  the  Zambesi,  intends  to  cross 
the  continent  from  south  to  north.  Starting  from  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  he  is  to  strike  the  Zambesi,  thence  the  watershed  district  be- 
tween that  river  and  the  Congo,  and  on  to  Egypt  through  Darfur. 

Dr.  Stocker  is  exploring  Lake  Toana.  M.  Piaggia  is  traversing  Sou- 
dan, south  of  Khartoum,  between  the  Blue  and  White  Nile,  M.  Lom- 
bard, corresponding  secretary  of  the  Normandy  Society  of  Geogra- 
phy, has  entered  on  a scientific  mission  to  Abyssinia.  M.  J.  Chouver, 
a Hollander  of  fortune  and  experience  as  a traveler,  has  reached  the 
Galla  country  on  his  way  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Capt.  Ferreira, 
Governor  of  Benguela,  and  several  officers  of  the  army,  have  offered 
their  services  to  the  Geographical  Society  of  Lisbon  for  a Portuguese 
expedition  across  Africa,  starting  from  the  West  Coast.  M.  Antusa 
is  organizing  a commercial  station  at  Zomba,  where  he  is  to  be  joined 
by  workmen  whom  the  Portuguese  Government  has  promised  to  fur- 
nish to  erect  buildings.  The  learned  Dr.  Schweinfurth  has  returned 
from  a visit  to  the  Island  of  Socotra,  off  the  coast  of  Aden,  and  affirms 
that  it  is  very  fertile,  with  a splendid  and  varied  vegetation.  One- 
fourth  of  its  plants  are  peculiar  to  the  locality.  • 

M.  Moustier,  who  in  1879,  with  M.  Zweifel,  discovered  the  source 
of  the  I^iger,  is  again  to  start  from  Freetown  on  a trading  venture  and 
to  fix  the  exact  geographical  position  of  “ the  rise  of  the  mysterious  riv- 
er.” Lieut.  Dumbleton  arid  Surgeon  Browning,  R.  A.,  are  in  charge  of 
an  expedition  to  penetrate,  by  the  Gambia,  into  the  valley  of  the 
Niger  to  Timbuctoo.  Dr.  Gouldsbury  lately  led  an  exploring 
party  from  the  river  Gambia,  via  Timbo  and  Port  Lokko,  to  Si- 
erra Leone,  the  outlay  for  which  from  the  colonial  treasury  was 
^2,400,  ($12,000.) 

The  Congo. — The  illustrious  Stanley  has  reached  his  second 
station  on  the  Congo,  Isangila,  about  30  miles  above  Vivi,  which  point 
was  gained  only  after  faithful  but  weary  toil,  and  against  every  kind 
of  difficulty.  He  was  obliged  to  throw  bridges  across  the  streams, 
open,  hatchet  in  hand,  a route  across  dense  forests,  blow  up  rocks; 
leading  the  way  with  a group  of  pioneers,  and  after  advancing  a 
little,  to  make  a halt,  pitch  a camp,  then  go  back  to  bring  by  instal- 
ments the  rest  of  the  convoy,  till  all  were  united.  Count  de  Brazza 
has  ascended  the  Ogowe  to  its  headwaters,  reaching  thereby 
the  sources  of  several  of  the  affluents  of  the  Congo.  Descending 
one  of  these,  the  Alima,  partly  along  the  shore  and  partly  by 
boats,  he  struck  the  Congo  below  Stanley  Pool,  and  coming  down 
the  river  he  met  Stanley,  It  is  suggested  that  a more  practicable 
route  to  the  interior  than  that  by  the  lower  Congo  may  be  opened  by 


5 


Gold  Mining. 

the  Ogovve  and  the  streams  which  rise  near  its  source.  The  Count  is 
again  to  descend  the  Alima,  this  time  in  a transportable  steam  launch, 
and  then  to  make  a thorough  examination  of  the  valley  of  the  Congo 
— the  area  of  which  is  estimated  to  be  four  times  that  of  France. 

Telegraphic. — Telegraphic  communication  has  been  established 
between  Elmina  and  Cape  Coast.  The  Portuguese  Commissioner  of 
Public  Works  has  constructed  in  Angola  a telegraphic  line  from  St. 
Paul  de  Loando  to  Dondo  and  Calcullo.  Preparations  are  making 
for  its  extension.  The  French  Government  proposes  to  connect  Tunis 
with  Corsica  by  cable.  A third  cable  has  been  laid  from  Marseilles  to 
Algiers.  A second  telegraphic  line  is  in  operation  between  Algeria 
and  Tunis. 

Gold  Mines. — Six  companies  are  working  on  the  Gold  Coast 
with  encouraging  prospects.  Improved  machinery  has  been  shipped 
by  the  African  Company,  and  its  mine  is  reported  to  be  one  of  extra- 
ordinary richness.  The  success  of  the  Gold  Coast  Company  places  it 
in  the  highest  rank  of  gold  mine  enterprise.  At  meetings  of  the  Effu- 
enta  Company  (July  7 and  21)  resolutions  were  adopted  to  create  an 
additional  two  thousand  shares  of  ^5  each,  ($25,)  to  be  distributed 
among  the  existing  shareholders  proportional  to  their  present  hold- 
ing. The  number  of  shares  applied  for  was  more  than  double  the 
amount  to  be  issued.  The  Akankoo  Gold  Coast*Company — a new 
organization — has  acquired  territory  on  the  borders  of  the  river  An- 
cobra,  and  the  celebrated  Cameron  has  been  engaged  to  open  up  the 
property.  The  British  authorities  have  placed  a civil  commandant 
with  a police  force  at  Tacquah.  Much  of  the  delay  experienced  in 
the  production  of  the  precious  metal  is  attributed  in  some  cases  to  er- 
ror of  management,  perhaps  unavoidable,  and  in  all  to  the  many  diffi- 
culties encountered  in  an  almost  unknown  region,  with  the  additional 
disadvantages  of  a very  unhealthy  climate  for  Europeans. 

Financial. — A prospectus  has  appeared  for  the  establishment  of 
“The  Bank  of  West  Africa,”  capital  ^500,000, ($2, 500,000,)  in  fifty 
thousand  shares  of  £\o  each,  ($50.)  The  chief  office  is  to  be  in  Lon- 
don, with  branches  at  Sierra  Leone  and  Lagos.  The  shares  of  the 
Standard  Bank  of  South  Africa,  ^25,  ($125,)  paid,  are  quoted  at  57, 
and  the  dividends  paid  for  the  last  two  years  have  been  sixteen  per 
cent.  Postal  money  order  offices  have  been  opened  between  Sierra 
Leone  and  the  Gambia,  at  the  rate  of  three  shillings  (75  cents)  per 
£\o,  ($50.) 

Commercial. — Africa  contains  resources  upon  which  large  por- 
tions of  the  enlightened  world  will  in  no  very  remote  future  be  de- 
pendent, and  it  possesses  the  very  highest  capacity  for  the  consump- 


6 


Steamers. 


tion  of  many  of  the  productions  of  civilization.  One  of  the  marked 
developments  is  the  numerous  orders  for  utensils  and  simple  machin- 
ery of  various  kinds,  to  be  worked  by  hand  or  with  light  power,  and 
for  mechanical  tools  and  agricultural  implements.  The  business  is 
already  extensive  and  is  likely  to  be  of  immense  magnitude.  Dr.  Ho- 
lub  describes  Prince  Sechele,  chief  of  the  Bechuanas,  as  living  in  a 
grand  abode,  which  he  had  erected  in  European  style,  at  a cost  of  8*5. 
ooo.  Khartoum  is  making  astonishing  progress.  Magnificent  stores 
have  been  built  within  the  last  three  years,  and  everything  in  modern 
civilization  can  now  be  had  there.  The  Northwest  Company  is  ex- 
tending commerce  at  Cape  Juby.  The  security  afforded  since 
the  “annexation”  by  England  of  Lagos  has  powerfully  helped 
it  to  become  the  “ Liverpool  of  Africa.”  The  declared  value  of  its  ex- 
ports in  1878  was  ,£577,346,  ($2,886,730.)  The  number,  tonnage,  &c., 
of  steam  vessels  which  entered  Lagos  in  the  same  year  is  thus  given: 


Nationality.  Steamers.  Tonnage.  Crews. 

British 144  141,590  5,746 

German 72  4,251  1 , 1 77 


Totals 216  145,84!  6,293 


“ The  Lagos  Warehouse  and  Commission  Company,”  capital  ^50, 
000,  ($250,000)  in  £5  ($25)  shares,  has  been  formed,  for  the  purpose  of 
founding  a wholesale  warehouse  at  Lagos,  and,  when  desirable,  at  oth- 
er important  points  on  the  West  Coast.  Thus  a native  merchant  will 
be  put  in  possession  of  two  thirds  of  the  net  value  of  his  consignment 
immediately  the  Company  is  in  possession  of  his  produce,  and  he  will 
be  enabled  to  have  all  his  produce  realized  in  the  home  market. 

Steamers. — Twenty-five  years  ago  it  took  a passenger  from  the 
United  States  one  hundred  and  thirty  days  to  reach  Corisco;  now  a 
trip  via  Liverpool  of  about  a month,  in  a palace  compared  with  the 
pent-up  quarters  of  a sailing  ship,  and  tables  furnish  with  luxuries  in- 
stead of  ringing  the  changes  of  salt  beef  and  hard  bread  from  day  to 
day . Twenty-eight  steamships  afford  weekly  communication  between 
Liverpool  and  the  West  Coast.  The  vessels  of  “the  African  Steam- 
ship Company  ” are  named  as  follows  : Africa,  Akassa,  Ambriz,  Ben- 
in, Biafra,  Ethiopia,  Landana,  Mayumba,  Nubia,  Opobo,  Whydah  and 
Winnebah,  and  those  of  “ the  British  and  African  Steam  Navigation 
Company  ” bear  the  following  names : Benguela,  Bonny,  Cameroon, 
Congo,  Corisco,  Dodo,  Forcades,  Formoso,  Gaboon,  Kinsembo,  Loan- 
do,  Lualaba,  Ramos,  Roquelle,  Senegal  and  Volta.  “The  West  Afri- 
can Steam  Navigation  Company  ” also  employ  a number  of  steam- 


Explorations , 


7 


MAP  OF  AFRICAN  EXPLORATIONS  DOWN  TO  AUGUST,  1877. 


■8  Railroad  Survey. 

ships  in  the  West  African  trade.  Messrs.  Rubattino  & Co.  announce 
their  intention  to  put  on  several  steamers  between  Genoa  and  Ben- 
gasi. Not  a steamer  from  the  United  States  to  Africa  ! 

A company  has  been  formed  in  New  York  for  “ the  establishment 
of  a line  of  steamships  for  passengers,  mail  and  freight,  between  New 
York,  Madeira,  St.  Thomas  and  Teneriffe,  Cape  de  Verde,  the  West- 
ern Islands,  the  Canary  Islands,  and  the  ports  of  the  West  Coast  of 
Africa.”  The  capital  stock  is  $100,000;  and  may  be  increased  to  $4, 
000,000;  shares  $100.  Such  a line  would  open  cheap  and  rapid  com- 
munication between  the  Liberian  Republic  and  our  own,  furnishing 
facilities  for  the  thousands  of  people  of  color  who  desire  to  obtain  an 
expansive  field  for  their  energies,  and  bringing  to  our  market  the  val- 
uable staples  of  its  productive  soil.  In  relation  to  this  important  pro- 
ject an  experienced  missionary  writes : “ Often,  during  these  twenty 
years,  I have  been  surprised  at  the  apparent  indifference  of  American 
capitalists  and  ship  owners  to  the  share  that  they  might  have  ob- 
tained in  the  profits  of  the  African  trade,  other  than  slaves.  I have 
seen  two  English  lines  of  steamers  (the  South  and  the  West,  having 
their  termini  respectively  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Niger)  develop  by  rich  opposition  to  five,  and  the  termini  of 
three  of  them  extended  from  the  Niger  down  to  the  Congo-Living- 
stone,  and  literally  every  nation  of  Europe  engaged  in  their  profits, 
while  America  has  scarcely  a showing.”  A subsidy  or  liberal  legislation 
by  Congress  is  counted  upon  before  additional  steps  in  this  enterprise 
are  taken.  And  among  other  public  action  tending  to  success  is  the 
creation  and  appointment  of  consuls  at  the  Gold  Coast,  Lagos  and 
Bonny;  and  vice-consuls  at  smaller  points  between  Monrovia  and  the 
Niger,  to  be  under  the  supervision  of  the  Minister  Resident  to  Liberia. 

Railroad  Survey. — While  the  United  States  flagship  Ticonde- 
roga,  Commodore  Shufeldt,  was  on  the  West  African  coast,  two  of  her 
officers,  Lieut.  Drake  and  Master  Vreeland,  assisted  by  eleven  men 
from  the  ship  and  twenty-seven  natives  furnished  by  the  Liberian 
Government,  made  a survey  of  the  St.  Paul’s  river,  and  ran  a line  of 
levels  along  its  northern  bank  and  some  distance  inland,  to  determine 
the  feasibility  of  constructing  a railroad  to  connect  Monrovia  with 
the  Soudan  Valley,  via  Boporo.  This  reconnoissance  proved  that  the 
engineering  difficulties  would  be  comparatively  trifling.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Monrovia  would  be  the  most  available  point  for  the 
starting  of  such  a road,  as  it  would  pass  through  an  entirely  virgin 
country  and  penetrate  to  a salubrious  region,  whose  resources  for 
trade,  known  to  be  prodigious,  are  as  yet  untouched.  Such  a con- 
nection with  the  interior,  with  the  various  appliances  of  civilization 


9 


Liberia  Coffee. 

which  must  follow  it,  would  be  one  of  the  most  effective  agencies  for 
promoting  a vigorous  colonization  of  the  immigrants,  who  would  at 
once  reach  a healthy  and  fertile  district,  and  it  would  prove  a great 
practical  power  in  the  advancement  of  missionary  work,  and  immedi- 
ately become  an  important  auxiliary  in  developing  and  controling  an 
immense  and  valuable  commerce. 

This  reconnoissance  was  the  first  made  in  that  quarter,  and  it  has 
done  much  toward  bringing  the  interior  tribes  into  commercial  and 
friendly  relations  with  the  Liberians.  Other  surveys  were  conducted 
by  the  same  bold  and  public-spirited  officers,  including  that  of  the 
Sugaree  and  Marfa  rivers.  The  presence  of  the  Ticonderoga  and 
Commodore  Shufeldt  will  long  be  pleasantly  remembered,  and  good 
continue  to  result.  This  accomplished  officer,  in  a letter  dated  April 
6,  1881,  remarks  : “ In  view  of  the  many  failures  which  have  been  re- 
corded in  every  age  of  the  world,  Liberia  may  be  regarded  as  a suc- 
cess. * * * This,  the  first  effort  of  the  African  race  to  establish  a 
free  government  upon  its  own  soil,  merits  and  should  receive  the 
sympathy  and  encouragement  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  in 
America.” 

Liberia  Coffee. — The  species  of  coffee  which  is  indigenous  to 
Liberia  promises  to  have  an  important  influence  on  the  industry  of 
those  countries  in  which  the  coffee  blight  has  almost’ extinguished  the 
Arabian  coffee  plant.  In  Dominica,  W.  I.,  the  Liberia  coffee,  from 
seedings  planted  in  1874,  has  proved  impervious  to  the  ravages  of  the 
blight,  and  its  productiveness  is  a matter  of  astonishment. . The 
stranger  is  described  as  “ much  larger  than  that  of  Arabia,  being,  in- 
deed, in  its  native  state  a small  tree,  its  leaves  much  larger ; the  ber- 
ries are  twice  the  size  of  the  ordinary  coffee  bean,  and  the 
flavor  is  excellent.”  The  Liberia  coffee  seed  has  been  introduced 
into  Ceylon,  and  Liberian  coffee  from  that  isle  commands  a much 
higher  price  than  the  Ceylon,  (Arabian)  coffee.  The  bark 
Elverton  took  from  Liberia  to  Rio  Janerio  some  one  hundred 
thousand  coffee  plants  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  of  coffee  seed, 
and  returning  to  Monrovia,  readily  obtained  a similar  cargo  for  the 
same  parties  in  Brazil.  A German  trading  firm  is  extending  the 
coffee  culture  a short  distance  inland,  near  the  Gaboon,  with  scions 
procured  in  Liberia.  The  Republic  is  in  its  infancy  with  regard  to  the 
Cultivation  of  the  far-famed  berry.  The  crop  last  year  is  said  to  have 
reached  a half  million  of  pounds. 

Mohammedanism. — Enthusiastic  propagandists  of  Islam,  without 
commission  or  compensation  of  any  kind,  but  trusting  wholly  to  that 
hospitality  which  is  the  pride  of  the  Oriental,  pass  from  village  to  vil- 


jo  Population. 

lage  reading  the  Koran  and  giving  instructions  to  wondering  groups 
of  natives.  Whole  tribes  are  stated  to  be  converted  to  the  Mahom- 
medan  faith.  The  eminent  scholar  and  writer,  Rev.  Dr.  Blyden,  * says: 
“Africans  are  continually  going  to  and  fro  between  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
and  the  Red  Sea.  I have  met  in  Liberia  and  in  its  eastern  frontiers,  Mo- 
hammedan Negroes  born  in  Mecca,  the  holy  city  of  Arabia,  who  thought 
they  were  telling  of  nothing  extraordinary  when  they  were  detailing  the 
incidents  of  their  journey,  and  of  the  journey  of  their  friends,  from  the 
banks  of  the  Niger — from  the  neighborhood  of  Sierra  Leone  and  Liberia 
— across  the  continent  to  Egypt,  Arabia  and  Jerusalem.  I saw  in  Cairo 
and  Jerusalem,  some  years  ago,  West  Africans  who  had  come  on  bus- 
iness and  on  religious  pilgrimage  from  their  distant  homes  in  Sene- 
gambia.”  The  promoters  of  Christianity  are  using  these  native  travel- 
ers and  missionaries  of  the  false  prophet.  Copies  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures in  Arabic,  printed  at  Beyrout,  are  sent  to  Egypt  and  for  circula- 
tion in  the  Delta  and  along  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  and  to  Liberia,  whence 
they  are  distributed  among  the  inhabitants  of  vast  outstretching 
realms  whose  vernacular  is  the  Arabic. 

Population. — The  population  of  Africa,  exclusive  of  its  Islands, 
is  estimated  by  Dr.  Behm,  in  Peterman’s  “Mittheilungun,”  at  201,787,- 
000.  Of  these  the  number  of  Protestant  communicants  in  the  various 
colonial  and  mission  churches  was  reported  in  1880  as  122,700;  the 
number  composing  the  communities  connected  with  these  churches 
506,966;  the  number  of  Jews,  350,000;  of  Coptic,  Abyssinian  and  simi- 
lar Christians,  4,535,000;  of  Mohammedans,  51,170,000;  of  heathen, 

145.225.000. 

To  carry  the  gospel  to  these  millions,  sixty  four  societies  are  at 
work.  In  South  Africa  and  the  colonies  and  Sierra  Leone  and  Libe- 
ria there  are  connected  with  colonial  churches  468  ministers,  evangel- 
ists and  teachers,  of  whom  54  are  natives.  The  other  white  mission- 
aries and  teachers  on  the  continent,  are  reported  as  662,  with  1095 
natives,  making  1757  mission  workers  proper,  and  2,255  ministers^ 
missionaries  and  teachers  of  all  kinds,  engaged  in  religious  labors. 

The  population  of  Liberia,  including  Medina,  may  be  1,400,000- 
The  largest  proportion  of  the  natives  are  Mohammedans,  perhaps 

1.000. 000.  There  are  26  Baptist  churches,  reporting  24  ministers  and 
1,928  communicants.  TheProtestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United 
States  reports  one  bishop  and  31  others,  missionaries,  teachers  and 
assistants,  361  communicants,  597  Sunday-school  scholars  and  415  in 


* “ Liberal  use  has  been  made  of  the  writings  of  this  gifted  Negro,  and  of  the  pages  of 
the  Missionary  Herald,  of  Boston;  Foreign  Missionary,  of  New  York,  African  Times,  of 
London,  and  L’  Afrique,  of  Geneva. 


Recent  Explorations. 


ip 


Cairo 


jL5^Tiinbuc  too 


IPrajecj 


fa  mr 


Gerrna- 


^Aibertjp, 

of  t 


iJ^Victorux  '\P. 


TijanX' 


izfljar 


.Wy  brant 


tjm7.il  La 


! popo 


|CaW  Colony  •: 

|M>ye  T,’J2-. 


MAP  OF  EXPLORATIONS  SINCE  AUGUST,  1877. 


12 


Missions. 


day  and  boarding-schools.  The  report  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  States,  gives  25  ministers,  10  assistants,  4 native 
preachers  and  47  local  preachers  and  teachers,  2,200  members,  1,831 
Sabbath-school  scholars  and  300  day  scholars.  The  American  Presby- 
terian Church  (North) reports  9 misionaries  and  assistants,  270  commu- 
nicants. and  65  pupils  in  schools.  Total  104  ministers,  assistants  and 
teachers  reported,  4,759  communicants,  2,428  Sabbath-school  scholars 
and  780  day  pupils. 

It  is  a suggestive  truth  that  a few  only  of  the  “104  ministers,  assist- 
ants and  teachers”  laboring  in  Liberia  were  sent  by  missionary  societies, 
but  that  nearly  all  of  them  were  sent  or  are  the  children  of  men  sent 
by  the  American  Colonization  Society  as  emigrants,  and  established 
there  with  means  of  subsistence,  This  single  fact  teaches  that  in  pro- 
portion as  the  emigrants  from  this  country  are  multiplied,  the  Christ- 
ian laborers  are  aiso  multiplied. 

Missions. — The  six  European  missions  commenced  in  Central 
Africa  since  the  death  of  Dr.  Livingstone  have  been  constantly  rein- 
forced and  strengthened,  viz.:  The  Presbyterian  stations  on  Lake 

Nyassa;  the  Church  Missionary  Society  efforts  on  Lake  Victoria  Nyan- 
za;  the  London  Missionary  Society  operations  on  Lake  Tanganyika  ; 
the  French  Bassuto  extension  to  the  Barotse  Valley,  and  the  Baptist 
Mission  and  the  Livingston  elnland  Mission,  both  on  the  Congo.  The 
two  latter  named  are  pushing  inland  from  the  coast;  the  first  on  the 
southern  and  the  other  on  the  northern  side  of  the  river.  The  Bap- 
tists are  nearing  the  accorriplishment  of  their  first  leading  design,  viz; 
the  establishment  of  a station  at  Stanley  Pool,  to  be  used  as  a base  of 
operations  beyond.  A gentleman  has  given  the  ^4, coo  ($2o,cco) 
necessary  to  procure  a steel  boat  to  be  named  the  “Plymouth,”  to  be 
used  upon  the  Congo.  The  Livingstone  Inland  Mission  (undenomi- 
national, begun  in  1878,)  has  founded  five  stations  and  passed  some 
two  hundred  of  the  three  hundred  miles  to  overcome  the  cataracts, 
where  the  river  stretches  out  in  navigable  waters  for  about  one  thou- 
sand miles.  Here  it  is  intended  to  locate  an  industrial  mission  sta- 
tion, and  to  make  the  work  ultimately  self-supporting  and  self-extend- 
ing. 

An  offer  of  ^4,000  ($20,000)  has  been  made  by  James  Stevenson, 
Esq.,  of  Glasgow,  for  the  construction  of  a road  between  Lakes  Ny- 
assa and  Tanganyika.  The  gift  is  based  on  the  condition  that  the 
London  Missionary  Society  and  the  Livingstonia  Mission  open  and 
maintain  stations  at  Mambe  and  Maliwanda,  on  the  line  of  the  pro- 
posed road,  and  that  the  Central  African  Trading  Company  under- 
take to  keep  up  regular  communication  between  Lakes  Tanganyika 


The  America?i  Colonization  Society.  iy 

and  Ouilimane.  The  distance  between  the  lakes  is  about  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles.  The  London  Missionary  Society  has  resolved 
to  assume  the  conditions  as  far  as  it  is  concerned,  and  the  Living- 
stonia  Mission  of  the  Scotch  Free  Church  has  sent  a force  to  begin 
the  station  at  Maliwanda. 

Christendom  knows  not  anyothersuch  mission  as  the  Nigermission 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  begun  in  1867,  to  evangelize  that 
portion  of  the  continent  by  native  Africans,  headed  by  a native  Afri- 
can, Bishop  Crowther.  Large  and  increasing  Christian  congregations 
exist  at  Bonny  and  Brass,  and  assemblies  of  varying  sizes  at  Onitsha,. 
Asumare  and  Lokoja.  Sixteen  hundred  worshippers  attended  re- 
ligious services  at  Bonny  last  Christmas.  Kings  and  chieftains  are 
erecting  churches  for  themselves  and  their  subjects.  A cathedral  is 
to  be  built  at  Bonny  at  a cost  of  £ 2,000 , ($10,000.) 

The  appointment  of  a Secretary  by  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions  to  superintend  its  operations  in  Afri- 
ca, indicates  an  earnest  purpose  with  respect  to  that  land.  Three  pio- 
neer missionaries  have  been  cordially  received  by  the  King  of  Bail- 
unda,  and  others  are  on  their  way  to  found  a station  at  Bihe,  which 
lies  behind  Benguela,  some  250  miles  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  an  ele- 
vated region,  inhabited  by  large  and  compact  tribes. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  has  sent  two  commission- 
ers to  select  a site  for  a station  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Nile,  in  aid 
of  which  Robert  Arthington,  Esq.,  of  Leeds,  has  contributed  ^3,000, 
($15,000,)  and  English  Christians  have  given  a like  sum.  Two  mis- 
sionaries are  under  appointment  to  occupy  this  field.  The  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  is  considering  the  Soudan  as  a theatre 
of  labor,  stimulated  by  an  offer  from  Mr.  Arthington  of  £7,000 
($35,000)  toward  a mission  on  an  extensive  scale  in  that  populous  dis- 
trict. No  man  in  this  age  has  done  so  much  to  stimulate  missionary 
enterprise  as  Mr.  Arthington.  The  Southern  Prebyterian  Board  of 
Missions  is  contemplating  the  opening  of  a station  at  Kabenda,  pre- 
paratory to  an  advance  on  the  centre  of  the  Kingdom  of  Loango. 

American  Colonization  Society. — This  association  is  quietly 
prosecuting  its  work  of  boundless  scope  and  thrilling  issues.  An  im- 
partial observer  of  its  progress  in  the  United  States,  and  who  has  per- 
sonally seen  its  fruit  on  the  coast  of  Africa, lately  declares:  “This  was  the 
first  and  remains  the  only  Society  ever  organized  for  the  explicit  pur- 
pose of  giving  the  Negro  perfect  freedom,  of  promoting  his  education 
for  his  own  good,  of  making  him  independent,  of  giving  him  a coun- 
try he  can  call  his  own,  and  of  elevating  his  race  to  the  standard  of  a 
Christian  nation.  * * * * * Liberia’s  flag  is  now  honored  by  all 


Climate.  Workmen. 


J4 

•Christian  nations,  and  none  more  deserves  honor,  for  the  cause  over 
which  it  floats  is  the  grandest  and  holiest  which  ever  gave  birth  to  a 
nation — the  redemption  of  a whole  race  of  mankind  from  heathenism 
.and  slavery.” 

The  number  of  persons  provided  passage  to  and  homes  in  Liberia 
by  the  Society  in  1880  exceeded  that  in  any  one  year  since  1872.  One 
of  its  recent  proteges.  Rev.  James  O.  Hayes,  a graduate  of  Shaw  Uni- 
versity, writes:  “I  have  met  many  of  the  prominent  citizens  and 

others,  all  of  whom  have  extended  to  me  the  warm  hand  of  fellowship 
and  welcome.  Hon.  Beverly  P.  Yates,  who  has  resided  in  this  Re- 
public fifty-two  years,  remarked  to  me  that  he  would  prefer  Liberia  to 
America,  even  if  he  were  made  President  of  the  United  States.  I have 
two  brothers  and  their  families,  with  numerous  friends  residing  at 
Brewerville,  and  they  are  prospering  finely.  The  conviction  is 
strengthened  by  all  I see  that  persons  who  improve  the  advantages 
afforded  immigrants  here  could  not  be  induced  to  exchange  coun- 
tries.” The  Society  looks  hopefully  for  that  increase  in  gifts  which 
the  broadening  work  imperatively  demands. 

Climate. — Africa  continues  to  be  guarded  by  her  malarious  sea- 
board and  poisonous  fevers,  and  alien  travelers,  explorers,  miners  and 
missionaries  still  there  find  early  graves.  Statistics  show  the  differ- 
ence in  the  effects  of  the  climate  upon  the  white,  the  mulatto  and  the 
black  man.  In  the  recent  Ashantee  campaign,  out  of  the  heavy  death 
.list  of  forty-two  English  officers  only  six  died  of  wounds.  Four 
scientific  explorers  are  known  to  have  fallen  in  the  last  few  months> 
including  the  hardy  Popelin,  the  leader  of  the  second  Belgian  expe- 
dition. Each  of  the  three  first  stations  of  the  Livingstone  Inland 
Mission  has  been  consecrated  by  the  call  of  one  of  its  founders  to 
.higher  spheres  and  grander  activities.  The  Presbytery  of  West  Africa 
has  had  during  the  past  twenty-five  years  eleven  members.  Four  were 
pure  Negroes,  the  others  mulattoes  and  quadroons.  Of  the  mixed 
men  six  are  dead,  all  comparatively  young.  Of  the  Negroes  two  are 
dead,  both  over  sixty.  Of  the  two  who  survive,  one  is  nearly  seventy 
and  the  other  is  fifty  years  of  age.  The  Niger  mission  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  is  manned  wholly  by  native  Africans,  among  whom 
the  deaths  in  twenty-three  years  have  been  but  eight,  and  that  in  a 
.section  which  is  mostly  swampy  and  under  water  several  months  in 
the  year.  The  Negro  is  the  man  of  God’s  right  hand  in  Africa. 

Workmen. — A convention  of  colored  delegates  from  twelve  South- 
ern States,  held  at  Montgomery,  Ala.,  organized  the  Baptist  Foreign 
Mission  Convention,  the  object  of  which  ‘‘is  to  give  the  gospel  to 
the  people  of  Africa.”  Three  ministers  have  expressed  their  readi- 


Protestant  Mission  Stations, 


15 


MAP  OF  PROTESTANT  MISSION  STATIONS  IN  AFRICA. 


i6 


Colonies. 


ness  to  enter  upon  labors  in  “fatherland.”  The  African  Civil  and 
Evangelical  Association  has  for  its  purpose  “the  sending  and  sup- 
porting of  missionaries  and  school  teachers  in  Western  and  interior 
Africa,  a duty  we  owe  as  descendants  of  that  continent  to  our  kins- 
men there.”  The  Presbyterian  Synod  of  the  Atlantic,  composed 
largely  of  Freedmen,  has  inaugurated  a movement  looking  to  mis- 
sionary efforts  in  the  country,  of  their  ancestors. 

There  is  a bright  and  cheering  history  of  African  enlightenment 
to  be  written.  The.  six  millions  of  reserve  force  now  drilling  in 
America  for  the  final  victory  are  to  be  called  out.  They  are  now 
on  the  move.  Thousands  have  already  developed  many  of  the  prop- 
er qualifications  for  the  work,  and  are  waiting  the  means  to  go  for- 
ward. And  this  mighty  country  has  peculiar  facilities  for  the  intro- 
duction and  extension  of  civilization.  Europe  has  no  population 
available.  Entering  on  the  West  Coast,  the  people  and  Government 
of  the  United  States  may  stretch  a chain  of  settlements  of  her  own 
citizens  through  the  whole  length  of  Soudan,  from  the  Niger  to  the 
Nile — from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Indian  Ocean. 

Colonies. — A protracted  experience  convinces  us  that  it  may  be 
laid  down  as  a principle  demonstrated  by  numerous  examples,  that 
if  Western  and  Central  Africa  is  ever  to  advance  in  civilization;  if 
its  inhabitants  are  ever  to  become  not  Europeanized,  but  intelligent* 
competent  and  productive  Africans ; if  they  are  ever  to  be  brought 
into  commercial  relations  mutually  beneficial  with  Europe  and  Ameri- 
ca, it  must  be  by  establishing  and  fostering  such  colonies  as  Liberia. 
If  it  is  the  desire  of  Christians  to  abolish  polygamy,  to  put  a stop  to 
domestic  slavery,  to  encompass  and  vivify  the  people  by  civilizing  in- 
fluences, to  elevate  their  thought,  ennoble  their  action,  and  regenerate 
the  continent,  these  things  must  be  done  by  planting  colonies  of 
Christian  and  civilized  Negroes  along  that  coast  and  in  the  interior- 

“Worthy  the  Lamb,  for  he  was  slain  for  us  ! 

The  dwellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks 
Shout  to  each  other,  and  the  mountain  tops 
From  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy: 

Till,  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain, 

Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  round.  ” 


[Editorial from  The  Sun,  of  Baltimore,  October  23,  i8Si.\ 


The  Continent  of  the  Future.— The  Supplement  of  “The 
Sun”  to-day  contains  an  article  by  Mr.  William  Coppinger,  Secretary 
of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  upon  Africa,  its  condition 
from  various  points  of  view,  its  trade,  mines,  agricultural  products 
and  increased  closeness  of  relation  with  the  civilized  world,  which 
cannot  fail  to  prove  of  interest  to  all  persons  concerned  in  the  future 
of  tho  mysterious  “ dark  continent.  ” Americans  can  hardly  conceive 
the  importance  attached  by  Europeans  at  present  to  the  matters 
with  which  Mr.  Coppinger  so  fully  and  entertainingly  deals.  The  con- 
tinental powers  of  Europe,  perceiving  the  immense  advantage  pos- 
sessed by.  England  in  having  her  Indian  Empire  and  her  colonies  as 
outlets  for  her  manufactures  and  excess  of  population,  are  seeking  to 
imitate  her  example  by  founding  claims  to  such  territories  yet  unoc- 
cupied by  Europeans  as  are  unable  to  protect  themselves  from  aggres- 
sion 'backed  by  Krupp  guns.  After  the  pickings  of  Russia,  England 
and  France,  there  is  little  of  Asia,  besides,  perhaps,  the  Corean  penin- 
sula, left  to  appropriate.  The  jealousy  of  the  United  States  has  de- 
terred the  nations  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere  from  attempts,  like  that 
of  Maximilian  in  Mexico,  to  found  claims  upon  territories  in  either 
North  or  South  America.  Africa  remains,  and  is  at  their  doors. 
Having  an  area  of  9,858,000  square  miles,  and  an  estimated  popula- 
tion, mostly  barbarous,  of  about  201,787,000  souls,  it  offers,  despite 
its  unfavorable  climate,  great  advantages  to  the  European  people 
who  shall  first  appropriate  its  fertile  interior,  its  trade  in  mineral 
and  agricultural  products,  and  open  these  up  to  European  commerce 
by  means  of  lines  of  steamboat  and  railway  communications.  Afri- 
ca will  perhaps  at  no  distant  day  become  to  Europe  what  North  and 
South  America  have  been  for  the  last  two  hundred  years,  the  re- 
cipient of  their  overflow  of  population  and  their  chief  producer  of 
food.  Its  capabilities  are  untried,  but  we  know  they  are  enormous. 
Explorers  within  recent  years  have  traversed  the  continent  in  every 
direction,  and  have  brought  back  reports  generally  favorable.  The 
Sahara  is  shown  to  be  by  no  means  the  barren  waste  it  has  been 
represented,  and  the  Soudan  has  had  its  vast  capabilities  exploited. 
Behind  the  explorer  comes  the  military  post  and  European  civili- 
zation. As  was  shown  in  “The  Sun”  some  time  ago, 'France  has 
since  1854  been  extending  her  acquisitions  from  St.  Louis,  on  the 


iS  The  Continent  of  the  Future. 

West  Coast,  along  the  Senegal  and  Gambia  rivers,  eastwardly  into 
the  Soudan,  until  she  now  possesses  a large  area  of  country,  and 
exerts  a predominant  influence  over  a territory  comparable,  it  is  said, 
in  extent  with  that  of  England  in  India.  It  is  to  consolidate  and 
strengthen  her  acquisitions  that  she  proposes  to  add  Tunis  to  Al- 
geria, and  it  would  be  doing  scant  justice  to  her  policy  to  suppose 
that  the  seizure  of  Tunis  is  a detached  and  insignificant  incident. 
Mr.  Coppinger  narrates  in  detail  the  measures  being  taken  to  con- 
firm her  position  in  Africa,  as  against  her  various  European  com- 
petitors. A notable  fact  in  connection  with  the  Islamic  movement, 
of  which  so  much  is  said,  is  the  large  hold  the  Mohammedan  re- 
ligion already  has  in  Africa.  There  are  51,170,000  of  this  faith  to 
145,225,000  heathen,  350,000  Jews  and  4,535,000  Coptic  and  other 
Christians.  Even  in  Liberia,  out  of  a total  population  estimated  by 
Mr.  Coppinger  at  1,400,000,  fully  1,000,000  are  Mohammedans,  and 
of  an  aggressive  character. 


